Computer Program Detail Page

Coulomb's Law and Electric Field Package

written by
Anne Cox,
Wolfgang Christian, and
Francisco Esquembre

The EJS Coulomb's Law and Electric Field Package is a collection of models for electrostatics. You can move charges around and see the force, observe the electric field generated by charge configurations and observe the motion of test particles in electric fields. Users can inspect and modify any simulation in the package if you have Ejs installed by right-clicking within the plot and selecting "Open Ejs Model" from the pop-up menu item.

The Coulomb's Law and Electric Field Package was created using the Easy Java Simulations (Ejs) modeling tool. It is distributed as a ready-to-run (compiled) Java archive. Double clicking the ejs_electric_sampler.jar file will launch the package if Java is installed. Navigate within the package and click on a green triangle to run a particular simulation. Ejs is a part of the Open Source Physics Project and is designed to make it easier to access, modify, and generate computer models. Additional Ejs models are available. They can be found by searching ComPADRE for Open Source Physics, OSP, or Ejs.

Please note that this resource requires
at least version 1.5 of
Java (JRE).

Coulomb's Law and Electric Field Lesson PlansIn order to access this file, please Login to the Open Source Physics collection.
A zip file of Lesson Plans to accompany the Coulomb's Law and Electric Field Package.
.zip file (2015 kb Compressed File)
Published: December 4, 2009

Standards (3)

AAAS Benchmark Alignments (2008 Version)

11. Common Themes

11B. Models

6-8: 11B/M1. Models are often used to think about processes that happen too slowly, too quickly, or on too small a scale to observe directly. They are also used for processes that are too vast, too complex, or too dangerous to study.

AAAS Benchmark Alignments (1993 Version)

4. THE PHYSICAL SETTING

G. Forces of Nature

4G (9-12) #3. There are two kinds of charges?positive and negative. Like charges repel one another, opposite charges attract. In materials, there are almost exactly equal proportions of positive and negative charges, making the materials as a whole electrically neutral. Negative charges, being associated with electrons, are far more mobile in materials than positive charges are. A very small excess or deficit of negative charges in a material produces noticeable electric forces.

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